More good news for Rick Scott: FL ranks 5th in tax climate

@MarcACaputo

The economy is improving. Jobs are increasing. The state's budget deficits are gone and debt has decreases. And now another piece of good news comes for Gov. Rick Scott: Florida is the fifth-best state when it comes to low taxes, according to a conservative group.

Here's the Tax Foundation's press release:

Washington, D.C., October 9, 2013—The tax climate of Florida ranked 5th this year out of all 50 states, according to a new report by the Tax Foundation. The Sunshine State’s rank remains unchanged from 2013 in the 2014 State Business Tax Climate Index.

Several
states have moved in the rankings since last year, with Texas dropping
out of the top ten for the first time, landing at #11, and Virginia and
Kentucky both falling three places to #26 and #27, respectively. On the
positive side, Arizona climbed five ranks to #22 and Kansas shot up six
spots to #20. Several other states also saw smaller changes.

“The
states that lost ground this year usually did so because they changed
policy in a way that makes the tax code more complex, burdensome, or
economically harmful,” said Tax Foundation economist Scott Drenkard.
“By contrast, the states that improved did so because they are moving
closer to a tax code that collects revenue without unnecessarily
distorting business decisions. Their tax codes became more neutral.”

The State Business Tax Climate Index,
now in its 10th edition, collects data on over a hundred tax provisions
for each state and synthesizes them into a single, easy-to-use score.
The states are then compared against each other, so that each state’s
ranking is relative to actual policies in place in other states around
the country. A state’s ranking can rise or fall significantly based not
just on its own actions, but on the changes or reforms made by other
states.

“The
goal of the State Business Tax Climate Index is to start a conversation
with policymakers about how their states fare against the rest of the
country,” said Drenkard. “With this report, we’re asking: ‘how well is
your tax code structured? Are businesses in your state spending too much
time complying with onerous tax provisions? Are you double taxing
things you shouldn’t?’”

The
Tax Foundation is a nonpartisan research organization that has
monitored fiscal policy at the federal, state and local levels since
1937. To schedule an interview, please contact Communications Associate
Richard Borean at 202-464-5120 or borean@taxfoundation.org.